Seed

Series B

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Asia (ex. GCC & Levant)

Africa

Riyadh

Faris AlRashed Alhumaid

Mohammed Al-Shammasi

Bassam Noor

Mohammed Ghonaim

If you're ready to take your business to the next level with Derayah Venture Capital, we want to hear your pitch.

Investment in Startup

Derayah Venture Capital

Fintech

E-Commerce

Technology

Foodtech

Finance

Support & Management Services

Derayah VC is a Saudi-based Venture Capital fund that supports high-growth tech startups in the MENA region from early to growth stages.

Foodics

Software Dev/Test

Foodics is a restaurant management system that manages sales, transactions, inventory, employee schedules, and customer relationships.

Sary

MENAP B2B marketplace connecting small businesses with wholesalers and lenders to procure supply efficiently.

Bazaar Technologies

Syarah

Automotive

Marketplace

Syarah specializes in online car sales, offering assistance with purchases and financing options in Saudi Arabia and the region.

Cairo

Capiter

Capiter is a B2B marketplace that provides a payment method that offers cash flow solutions for small to medium-sized businesses.

Dubai

Eyewa

Eyewa offers prescription contact lenses, color contact lenses, sunglasses, and eyeglasses.

Rewaa

Transportation

Retail & Wholesale

Omnichannel inventory management system and a POS that integrate with marketplaces, shopping carts, and other retail services.

Lendo

Lendo is a fintech startup that provides a range of financing products and offers a peer-to-peer lending platform with a core focus on SMEs' debt finance.

iKcon

Food and Beverage

iKcon, UAE-based tech-enabled cloud kitchen operator that procures, cooks, and delivers food on behalf of restaurants and brand owners, was acquired by REEF in 2021.

Moyasar

Financial Services

Payments

Eat App

Resal

Loyalty Programs

Resal is a leading Saudi company that enables individuals, companies and merchants to take full advantage of the digital value of prepaid cards and rewards and loyalty programs through innovative technical solutions.

Delivery Service

Logistics

Logistics & Storage

We ship, manage, track, and return your online orders with over 200 shipping carriers from a single dashboard.

Kaso (Elkaso)

Kaso (formerly ElKaso) is an online B2B platform that facilitates order processing and communication between restaurants and suppliers.

Sabbar

Sabbar is a niche on-demand staffing platform for gig workers in the retail, hospitality, and entertainment industries in MENA.

Dawul

Social Network

Dawul is a platform that allows investors to share details of the financial status of their portfolios with other investors.

Mabaat

Sanad Cash

Sanad Cash helps employees relieve financial stress by getting them instant access to their salaries between paychecks.

Riyad-based social trading platform Dawul announced on Tuesday that it has raised $5 million in a seed round led by RAED Ventures with participation from Impact46, Seedra Ventures, Derayah Venture and Sukna Ventures.

Dawul platform is the leading platform specialized in social trading. Established in 2020, it acquired a permit from the Saudi Capital Market Authority to conduct financial technology experiments by the end of the same year, and  was officially launched in July 2021. Dawul is built to help beginner investors keep looking for automated ways to execute trades or, what’s even better, follow professional traders and their portfolios and investment strategies. This way, they can obtain details of the traders’ operations directly and in real time.

Dawul also introduced the “investment funds” product, which allows users to view the data of investment funds in the Saudi market, and to see all updates and analysis related to their own preferred funds. All this is through alerts and notifications that are sent periodically to help beginners in making decisions regarding the buying and selling of stocks, and the building of their investment portfolios in a transparent and safe manner.

Dawul plans to take advantage of this investment round by expanding its offers of social trading-related products, as well as expanding its network in the Middle East and North Africa. The platform aims to target the American and British market with its services,  while focusing its efforts on recruiting talent in the fintech industry.

“We are excited to move forward with this fund and we expect to be the first choice for traders in the region based on our value, upgrading the investor experience, and improving transparency in the financial sector,” said Mr. Mansour Al-Harbi, Founder and CEO of Dawul, in response to this funding round.

Co-founder of RAED Ventures Mr. Talal Alasmari commented on this funding round: “There are enormous opportunities behind the concept of social trading which have not yet been applied in the region. We are pleased to be investing in Dawul platform which is the first to introduce this concept to the Saudi market through a safe and transparent platform, and with the support of the Capital Market Authority to raise awareness among investors. We believe in the ability of the Dawul team to expand and serve  the whole MENA region.”

“The initiatives from public and private sectors on the importance of investment, along with the people’s awareness of the value of investments, there is a gap of knowledge in the investment field and its risk. Dawul’s fills the gap by empowering experts in the investment field to share their experience. We bet on the vast experience of Mansour Al-Harbi driving the social trading platform Dawul forward” Mohammed Alnasyan from Impact46 commented on the investment.

Saudi’s Social Trading Platform Dawul raises $5 Million in seed round with participation from Impact46

Riyadh-based fintech Lendo has raised $7.2 million in a Series A round led by Saudi’s Derayah Ventures, it announced in a statement today to MENAbytes. The equity-only round also includes participation of Seedra Ventures, Shorooq Partners, 500 Startups, and Impact46.

Founded in 2019 by Osama AlRaee and Mohammad Jawabri, Lendo offers instant invoice financing to SMEs through its Shariah-complaint lending marketplace. The offering helps SMEs with their immediate cash requirements. Invoice financing is a popular short-term borrowing tool for businesses in different markets around the world where they use their receivables to get loans from banks (or other financial institutions) but there are hardly any banks that offer it in the region.

Lendo offers loans starting from SAR 100,000 (about $27,000) and going up to SAR 3 million ($800,000) by connecting the SMEs with investors on its marketplace through crowdlending (aka peer-to-peer lending). The SMEs looking for financing can apply on Lendo’s platform if they have a valid Saudi business license (commercial registration), have been in operations for at least one year, and have an annual turnover of SAR 2 million ($530,000) at least.

The startup takes up to three days to review the profile after receiving all the required details and documentation. If approved, the business can apply for financing of up to 80 percent of the invoice value sold to the customer. These opportunities are then shared on Lendo’s platform with the investors who finance them collectively.  Lendo claims that on average it takes about half an hour for an opportunity on its platform to close (i.e. raise the money needed).

The investments start from SAR 1,000 (about $270) and can be made by any Saudi citizen or resident over the age of 18 who has a valid ID and a bank account. The expected annual profits range from 9 to 24 percent depending on the risk profile of the SME. All the opportunities listed on Lendo receive a risk rating based on its credit history, financial position, owners’ personal credit history and experience, and invoice strength.

“We provide solutions to two major pain points in the SME finance market. First, the limited options for SME businesses to borrow cash quickly and easily and second, the limited short-term options that offer higher returns for investors/lenders,” said the startup in a statement.

Lendo makes money by charging the SMEs with a management fee and taking a 20 percent cut from the profit investors make.

Launched just last year, Lendo claims to have financed over 100 invoices worth over SAR 60 million for SMEs and given more than SAR 3 million in profits to its investors. Its co-founder and CEO Osama AlRaee told MENAbytes that they currently have a default rate of zero.

In a statement, commenting on the occasion, he said, “We are proud to be backed by leading investors who have excellent knowledge and experience in the most rapidly maturing MENA entrepreneurial ecosystem. Aside from the financial support and expert advice from the pioneers in the market, their trust in our business model will help us achieve both our short term and long-term goals and scale our business to the next level.”

“The additional investment helped us create more opportunities for Lendo to finance businesses during the challenging economic climate brought about by Covid-19. Our strategy is to provide access to low-profit rate financing to SMEs and help funders receive better returns. Our alternative form of financing has proven to be faster in getting the needed cash flow and has become an essential part of the recovery strategies for many of our customers/clients. We are proud to be the preferred platform of choice for SMEs lending and borrowing in Saudi Arabia and look forward to being pioneers in the wider MENA region,” he added.

Mohammad Jawabri, the co-founder and COO of Lendo, said, “As a team of fintech experts, we combine financial expertise with advanced technology to bring our clients solutions that can turn waiting time into a valuable win-win situation for all parties involved. During the pandemic, there was a huge surge in the numbers of SMEs who turned to Lendo for financing to keep their businesses afloat. Our 25% month-on-month growth is a testimony of the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our team.”

The startup, for now, is looking to expand into Saudi to serve Jeddah and Eastern Region before it launches in other parts of the region. It is also looking to introduce new products to help SMEs raise working capital. The SME lending landscape in Saudi also includes players like Raqamyah (which raised $2.3 million just last month – and interestingly the round was led by Impact46, a firm that has also participated in Lendo’s funding round), Forus, and Dubai-headquartered Beehive. Lendo is one of the many lending startups that are part of Saudi Central Bank’s regulatory sandbox.

Faris Alrashed from Derayah Ventures, said, “The Lendo team has built a remarkable company which is evidenced by their performance especially during the initial months of Covid-19. Lendo is a powerful solution in the industry and its offering is well-timed with the rapidly increasing demand for financing solutions in the dynamic SME lending arena. We firmly believe in the founders and their unparalleled focus on execution, user experience, and scale.”

Shane Shin, the Founding Partner of Shorooq Partners, said, “As the only new investor to join Lendo’s journey, we are humbled and excited to work closely with Osama, Mohammed and the Lendo team to propel their growth within Saudi as they become the dominant regional player.”

Saudi’s Lendo raises $7.2 million Series A for its SME lending marketplace

Saudi-based on-demand payment and spend management platform Sanad Cash, Inc. has raised a $1.6 million Seed round with participation from Impact46 seed fund, BIM ventures, Hala ventures, Derayah ventures, and a distinguished list of angel investors in KSA.

Sanad Cash was founded in 2020 by Sultan Alhugail, Mahmoud Iswiad, and Shorhabel Ghoneim and they are batch one alumni from Sanabil 500 accelerator. Sanad Cash offers small to medium-sized businesses (SMBS) and corporates a SaaS platform to help them track all of their spendings, and initiate on-demand payments for employees and others with just a few clicks.

“Sanad Cash vision is to introduce one a stop shop for all SMBs day to day financials by offering them global standard digital tools at a reasonable cost. Our partnerships with existing financial institutions will help us to introduce what we call an all-in-one new financial system that includes a corporate card, a spend management software, and a business account in one easy dashboard,” Says Mahmoud Iswiad, co-founder and CEO of Sanad Cash. 

“SMBs are the nerve of our economy and they represent not less than 90 per cent of business and more than 50 per cent of the employment in Saudi Arabia. We are witnessing a real need in KSA SMBs ecosystem to adopt more digital tools and move towards a cashless society which is a main pillar of the kingdom 2030 vision,” Says Sultan Al-Hugial, co-founder and chief commercial officer.

He added, “Our mission is to be the number one enabler for efficient and cost-effective on-demand payment and spend management in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

Sanad Cash will utilise its funding round to strengthen its position in the KSA market and acquire new local talents across multiple fronts. 

We are extremely thankful to all of the investors who participated in this round and our legal firm Levari for leading the legal front in this round and the previous pre-Seed round as well.

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